Directs the Secretary to establish a Risk Management Education Coordinating Center in each of five designated regions, to be located at an existing risk management education coordinating office or a land-grant college. Directs each Center to: (1) establish a coordinating council; (2) coordinate instructional programs, information dissemination, and resources; and (3) reserve funds for special and competitive grants to land-grant colleges and private entities to conduct such activities States that the National Agriculture Risk Education Library shall serve as a means for the electronic delivery of risk management information and materials.
Authorizes appropriations.
Directs the Secretary, through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, to evaluate activities of the Centers.
[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4018 Introduced in House (IH)]
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4018
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act
of 1998 to establish an educational program to improve the risk
management skills of agricultural producers.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 16, 2000
Mr. Nethercutt (for himself and Mr. Latham) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act
of 1998 to establish an educational program to improve the risk
management skills of agricultural producers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. IMPROVED RISK MANAGEMENT EDUCATION.
Title IV of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education
Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the
end the following new section:
``SEC. 409. IMPROVED RISK MANAGEMENT EDUCATION FOR AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCERS.
``(a) Program Required.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall carry
out a program to improve the risk management skills of agricultural
producers, including the owners and operators of small farms, limited
resource producers, and other targeted audiences, to make informed risk
management decisions. The program is designed to assist producers to
develop the skills necessary--
``(1) to understand the financial health and capability of
the producer's operation to withstand price fluctuations,
adverse weather, environmental impacts, diseases, family
crises, and other risks;
``(2) to understand marketing alternatives, how various
commodity markets work, the use of crop insurance products, and
the price risk inherent in various markets; and
``(3) to understand legal, governmental, environmental, and
human resource issues that impact the producer's operation.
``(b) Coordinating Centers.--
``(1) Establishment and purpose.--The Secretary shall
establish a Risk Management Education Coordinating Center in
each of five regions of the United States to administer and
coordinate the provision of risk management education to
producers and their families under the program in that region.
``(2) Site selection.--The Secretary shall locate the
Center for a region at an existing risk management education
coordinating office of the Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service or at an appropriate
alternative land-grant college in the region approved by the
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.
To be selected as the location for a Center, a land-grant
college must have the demonstrated capability and capacity to
carry out the program priorities, funding distribution, and
reporting requirements of the program.
``(c) Coordinating Council.--Each Center shall establish a
coordinating council to assist in establishing the funding and program
priorities for that region. The council shall consist of a minimum of
five members, including representatives from the following sources:
``(1) Public organizations.
``(2) Private organizations.
``(3) Agricultural producers.
``(4) The Regional Service Offices of the Risk Management
Agency in that region.
``(d) Center Activities.--
``(1) Instruction for risk management professionals.--Each
Center shall coordinate the offering of intensive risk
management instructional programs, involving classroom, distant
learning, and field training work, for professionals who work
with agricultural producers. These professionals include--
``(A) extension specialists;
``(B) county extension faculty;
``(C) private service providers; and
``(D) other individuals who are involved in
providing risk management education.
``(2) Education programs for producers.--Each Center shall
coordinate the provision of educational programs, including
workshops, short courses, seminars, and distant-learning
modules, to improve the risk management skills of agricultural
producers and their families.
``(3) Development and dissemination of materials.--Each
Center shall coordinate the efforts to develop new risk
management education materials and the dissemination of such
materials.
``(4) Coordination of resources.--Each Center shall make
use of available and emerging risk management information,
materials, and delivery systems, after careful evaluation of
the content and suitability of the information, materials, and
delivery systems for producers and their families. The Centers
shall use available expertise from land-grant colleges,
nongovernmental organizations, government agencies, and the
private sector to assist in conducting this evaluation.
``(e) Grants.--
``(1) Special grants.--Each Center shall reserve a portion
of the funds provided under this section to make special grants
to land-grant colleges and private entities in the region to
conduct one or more of the activities described in subsection
(d).
``(2) Competitive grants.--Each Center shall also reserve a
portion of the funds provided under this section to conduct a
competitive grant program to award grants to both public and
private entities that have a demonstrated capability to conduct
one or more of the activities described in subsection (d).
``(f) National Agriculture Risk Education Library.--The National
Agriculture Risk Education Library is a central focus for the
coordination and distribution of risk management educational materials.
The Library shall serve as a means for the electronic delivery of risk
management information and materials.
``(g) Funding Provisions.--
``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and each
subsequent fiscal year to carry out this section.
``(2) Distribution.--Funds appropriated to carry out this
section for a fiscal year shall be equally distributed among
the Centers, except that 2.5 percent of such funds shall be
distributed to the National Agriculture Risk Education Library.
The land-grant college at which a Center is located shall be
responsible for administering and disbursing such funds, in
accordance with applicable State and Federal financial
guidelines, for activities authorized by this section.
``(3) Prohibition on construction.--Centers shall be
located in existing facilities. Funds provided under this
section to a Center or as a grant under subsection (e) may not
be used to carry out facility construction.
``(h) Evaluation.--The Secretary, acting through the Cooperative
State Research, Education, and Extension Service, shall evaluate the
activities of the Centers to determine whether the risk management
skills of agricultural producers and their families are improved as a
result of their participation in educational activities financed using
funds appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in
subsection (g).
``(i) Land-Grant College Defined.--In this section, the term `land-
grant college' means any 1862 Institution, 1890 Institution, or 1994
Institution.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Risk Management, Research and Specialty Crops.
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